Interlude
Ella woke them all up much earlier than any of them had wanted. She attacked her brother first, crawling over to his camp bed where he was curled up facing Harry and climbed over him. Her little feet dug into his ribs while her elbow smacked him in the face, she also managed to leave a line of drool on his neck. With much practice Draco grabbed her before she had the chance to fall, however instead of sitting up and getting her ready for the day he just cracked an eyelid and made sure Harry was still there. With Harry sighted and still fast asleep, Draco lifted Ella and plopped her down on Harry’s head.
Harry woke with a start, his arms flailing at the sudden mass that was suffocating him. It took him a good minute to realise he was not being attacked by anything malicious and to carefully pry Ella off his head. With one hand he held onto her, making sure she didn’t tumble, with the other he reached out and flicked Draco’s head.
Draco just snorted out a laugh, turned over, and moved out of reach. Harry was going to try and launch the toddler back at her brother but she had moved too far in the other direction. He turned and realised she was going for Ron, which was perfect. Thus began half an hour of four sleepy teenagers hauling a child around and to her great delight being passed back and forth over their camp beds. They only stopped when Andromeda came in and rescued her from the arms of a very cranky Hermione.
“Ted and I will have breakfast ready soon,” she said, none of them wanting to be awake and yet their stomachs grumbled at the idea. “Best get up so we can get you all back to the Weasley’s before lunch”.
Harry turned to Draco, “do we have to?”
Draco grumbled something incoherent and pulled his pillow over his head, to Harry that sounded like a yes.
“Mum’s going to make us work when we get back,” Ron grouched from his bed.
“I shouldn’t have stayed up so late,” Hermione whined.
Draco added something in French, although it wasn’t entirely legible from underneath his pillow. Harry just huffed out a laugh at their complaints. Waking up surrounded by friends after an excellent night with someone else cooking breakfast? Not exactly the worst scenario he could imagine. And actually, he really had to use the bathroom. He pulled himself upright and out of bed, making sure to kick Ron in the shin as he went. Ron’s muttered cursing followed him as he made his way to the bathroom.
The Tonks house wasn’t exactly what he’d been expecting, nor was Draco’s temporary room. It was too comfortable and light, too many smiling faces coming out of photos and vases filled with fresh flowers. Harry had never been to many houses before besides the Weasleys and while it was lived in and loved it was also the home of people who never had enough money to go around. This never bothered Harry but it was always interesting to him to see other wizarding homes. Sirius and Remus’ had been new to them when he’d gotten there, no one had had much of a chance to love it and make it home yet.
But Tonks’ house was a home. It had obviously been lived in for years and Harry could see all the little details of life in its walls. The photos of Tonks when she was a baby all with different coloured hair or noses, dents in the wall that hadn’t been patched up, scratches on the back of the bathroom door marking Tonks’ height. When he saw this he noticed that something much newer had been added and to his delight Ella had a few scratch marks near the bottom.
No one else had managed to rise when he returned so he took it upon him to sit on Draco hoping it would both wake Draco up and also make Ron try to run away. If he was lucky Ron’s noise would annoy Hermione enough to try and get coffee. So, it was a win-win-win scenario.
He didn’t anticipate Draco grabbing him firmly and pulling him down. He lost his balance and slipped over, crashing into the camp bed and somehow missing Draco entirely. When he looked around he found himself face to face with Draco, who was smirking in delight.
“Hello,” Draco said, winking obnoxiously. “Fancy seeing you here”.
“This is much better than my idea,” Harry said, he leaned in and kissed Draco, and then both of them winced.
“What died in your mouth, Potter?”
“My mouth? That’s all you, Malfoy”.
“It is not!” Draco huffed.
“Will you two-” Hermione snapped, “please shut up!”
“Here, here,” Ron said, his voice muffled by a pillow.
Harry looked down at Draco and grinned, Draco rolled his eyes but he couldn’t help the smile that appeared. The mood suitably ruined, Harry sat up and pulled Draco with him, ushering him from bed and into the warmly lit kitchen.
Breakfast was a friendly affair when they all finally managed to make it to the table. It was late morning and everyone was still sleepy from the celebrations but they chatted and passed the toast and grumbled about the work they’d have to do back at the Burrow. Harry couldn’t help noticing that when Draco spoke it was almost as if he’d made up his mind to come back to the Burrow with them.
He’d hoped that Draco would but he hadn’t been certain. Draco definitely felt more comfortable here at his Aunts than he ever would at the Burrow plus it would be crowded and busy with preparations for the wedding in a few days. Not to mention Ella and her own comfort. But he definitely sounded like he was coming with them.
His worries disappeared when Andromeda asked, “do you need any help packing, Draco?”
Draco shook his head, “it’s probably only until after the wedding, I can come and get the rest of our stuff after that… if I need to”.
“You’re staying at my place?” Ron asked, not unkindly but with definite confusion.
Draco raised his brows, “your mother did offer”.
“I know,” Ron said, “but I never thought you’d actually take her up on it”.
Draco shrugged not bothering to supply any more of an answer, Ron narrowed his eyes and returned to his breakfast, stabbing his sausage a little harder than intended.
“Well, I’m sure Molly will be happy for the extra hands,” Andromeda said into the silence. She took a careful bite of breakfast and then spoke to Draco once more, “I’m sure you’ll be busy, so it’s not a problem for Ella to stay here a few more days… you can collect her at the wedding”.
“That’s OK,” Draco said, “I think they’re all excited to see her”.
Harry turned at the tone of his voice, it wasn’t like he didn’t trust Ella with his Aunt but he sounded more strained than he should have. He wasn’t looking at his Aunt but instead focusing on making sure Ella was eating.
“Yeah, you’ll have to pry her off mum,” Ron said before taking a huge bite toast.
“Only if you’re sure, Draco,” Ted said, “we’re happy to help”.
“It’s fine, really,” he said sharply. He let out a sigh and looked up, “apologies, I think I just want her close… in case something happens”.
His Aunt and Uncle nodded in understanding, after the summer they’d all had it was hard not to sympathize with him. Who knew when the next attack would be? And if they all had to run at a moments notice, Draco wouldn[t want anything between him and his sister. But he also figured that Ted and Andromeda wanted to spend as much time with their niece and nephew as they could before they had to eventually go into hiding for an unknown amount of time.
“I can ask Mr and Mrs Weasley if you can come to dinner the night before the wedding,” Harry said. “It’s, uh, its my birthday that night”.
Andromeda turned a very soft smile in his direction, “that would be lovely, thank you, Harry”.
“We can bring the rest of your things, Draco, if you think you’ll need them,” Ted offered.
Draco shrugged, “it’s fine, I’ll come back here afterwards and get them”.
He looked to Harry with a deep sadness in his eyes that he wasn't able to restrain and Harry knew what he was thinking. He knew that as soon as the wedding was over there would be nothing to keep Harry, Ron and Hermione from their job of hunting out the Horcruxes. Nothing to keep Harry at the Burrow or Draco from taking his sister into hiding. Their time together was quickly coming to an end and there was nothing either of them could do about it.
Harry leaned over and took Draco's hand in his, squeezing it. They still had a few days left together and he was sure as shit going to try and make the best of them.
***
Harry was distracted. And frustrated. He couldn’t pull his eyes away from Draco for more than a minute. And the frustration wasn’t the same as it had been for years, this was the much more recent kind. The jeans tightening, heart racing kind. And Draco had no idea of his suffering which somehow made it worse.
He had been entertaining and helping Mr and Mrs Delacour ever since their arrival at lunchtime. Fleur was much too busy for them and Gabrielle was off with Ginny getting fitted for their bridesmaid dresses, so it fell to Draco to help translate. Soon enough though they had all forgotten about English and the three of them were laughing away, conversing easily in French.
It hadn’t bothered Harry to start with but the longer they spoke the more heard and the harder it was to look away. Draco had a way of rolling his r’s that had Harry white-knuckling the chairs he was moving and requiring him to take deep breaths. The jeans and short-sleeve button-up combo weren’t helping either. There was far too much forearm on display.
“Harry?”
“Huh? What?” Harry said, turning away so quickly he felt his neck pop.
“Mate, Hermione’s been trying to get your attention for ages,” Ron said with a pinched expression.
“I really have,” Hermione confirmed. “I know he’s fit and all but we do have a rather pressing issue”.
“Really?” Harry asked, looking around, “what?”
Ron and Hermione shared a look, “uh, Horcruxes, mate. You know, the job you promised Dumbledore you’d do before he died?”
Harry felt the heat rise up in his cheeks. Right, Horcuxes. Voldemort. There was a war happening right now. And Harry was the only one who could save them. And all he could do was stare at Draco’s ass in those jeans. His eyes drifted back to his boyfriend… who had bent over to pick up something Mrs Delacour had dropped on the ground.
A groan escaped his lips.
“Oh for Merlin’s sake,” Hermione snapped. “Go and get it out of your system and we’ll talk about this when your brain is back in your head”.
“Sorry, what?” Harry asked, he really wasn’t firing on all cylinders right now. Usually, he wasn’t this far behind Hermione’s thought processes but right now he had absolutely no idea what she was even speaking about.
“The house is empty, so grab your boyfriend and go,” Hermione all but ordered. “We’ll buy you some time but honestly I don’t think Mrs Weasley will notice, she’s only worried about trying to keep the three of us separated”.
“And the baby,” Ron added, “let’s hope Bill and Fleur give her a grandchild soon or she might steal Ella away if given the chance”.
Harry turned bright red at the insinuation Hermione was making, the heat in his face only getting worse the more he understood what they were alluding to. And he would have snapped at them or laughed it off if his whole body wasn’t screaming at him to run across the backyard and grab Draco by the hand to pull him away to somewhere private.
“I, uh, I-“ Harry stuttered, his eyes going to Draco, then a bead of sweat rolled down his neck as he turned back to his friends. “I’m gonna go”.
He ignored their faces and any comments yelled after him, he couldn’t really think about anything except Draco. It was all-consuming, the need he had to get to him, like his body had become aware of their time crunch and needed to make up for all the time they would lose. And all he knew was that he needed to get his hands underneath Draco’s shirt right this second.
“Uh, hi, sorry to interrupt,” Harry said, sounding a little breathless. They all turned to him pleasantly even though he was pretty sure he had cut someone off. Draco’s eyes were sparkling with mischief.
“Everything OK?” Draco asked, his lips ticking up into a smirk. “You look flushed”.
“Fine,” Harry said, quickly. “Everything’s fine. I just need your help in the kitchen”.
Draco raised his eyebrow in question, “in the kitchen?”
“Yeah, Mrs Weasley asked me to bring the table outside for dinner but she forgot I can’t do magic until tomorrow,” Harry said, shrugging but not breaking eye contact. “Can you help?”
“Sure,” Draco said, grinning. He turned back to the Delacours and spoke to them quickly in French, Harry really needed him to stop doing that or he wouldn’t be held responsible for his actions. He turned back to Harry with a knowing look and said, “the kitchen, right?”
“Right,” Harry said, he grabbed his hand and tugged hard but Draco was following quickly.
“Ron and Hermione couldn’t have helped?” Draco asked.
“Absolutely not”.
Draco laughed and caught up so he was matching pace with Harry, he twined their fingers together and squeezed his hand. He leaned in close and whispered, “I had you down for holding out a little longer”.
Harry glared at him, realisation hitting that Draco had known exactly what he'd been doing, “in those jeans?”
“Too much?”
“No,” Harry sighed in defeat, “but mixed with the French? Deadly combination”.
“Noted,” Draco said smugly.
They passed straight through the kitchen without even a glance at the dining table and their imaginary task. Harry took the stairs two at a time which just had Draco laughing but when the door to Draco’s room closed behind them and Harry pushed him back into, all the laughter stopped.
Heat exploded in the pit of his stomach as he leaned in and took Draco’s lips in his own, his hands immediately going for the bottom of his shirt and tugging it up. Draco’s hands had found his hair and were already tangling themselves in deep. Harry’s hands gripped his waist and pulled him in so they were flush together, the cotton of their shirts the only thing separating them.
“Shirt,” Harry insisted, breaking away long enough to utter the word.
“I’m not-“ Draco said, kissing the side of his mouth, “stopping you”.
His hands went for the buttons and as he undid them he spent a few seconds deliberating whether to rip them or pull the shirt over Draco’s head without unbuttoning it. The faster option won, the option where Draco could probably just fix the buttons with magic, and the option where he wouldn’t have to stop kissing Draco in order to get him shirtless.
He got two buttons undone before he decided just to rip. Buttons popped off and scattered all over the floor much to Draco’s surprise and delight. He had to take his hands off Harry to shrug out of the shirt but he was quick and when his hands were free they went straight back, this time to the button of Harry’s jeans.
“We should have-“ Draco said between kisses, “done this sooner”.
Harry couldn’t help laughing, “at your Aunt and Uncles? Or after getting attacked by Voldemort?”
“Either,” Draco said, “both”.
He pressed his kiss deeper, his tongue darting out and his hands insistent on Harry’s pants. Harry’s fingers were deep in Draco’s back, the nails leaving red marks all over him. He let them run downwards and into the back of Draco’s jeans, gripping his ass through his briefs.
Draco let out a little gasp and those beautiful fingers finally managed to get Harry’s jeans undone. Draco pushed them down, revealing the black boxers and then the tanned thighs. After they went past his knees they didn’t need much more help, they fell and pooled at his feet until he stepped out enough to kick them away. Draco’s jeans were much tighter and yet Harry had an excellent time pushing them downward and guiding them over long, pale thighs.
Harry’s shirt was thrown to the ground and they both began to slowly, haltingly, make their way to Draco’s bed. Draco was the one to push Harry down, his back hitting the mattress with a soft thump, but Harry’s hands were still firmly gripping Draco’s waist and he was pulled along with him.
Harry’s knees came up on either side of Draco to brace him in place as they kissed, his hands roaming all over his body. Draco couldn’t be shifted, all he wanted was for them to keep kissing, their bodies crushed against each other and his hands buried deep in shaggy black hair.
But it didn’t take long for their fervour to climb, the friction between them gaining heat and Harry tugging insistently on Draco’s briefs. Underwear was thrown to the floor as they tumbled and rolled, Harry laughing into Draco’s mouth between kisses. They got lost in the sensation as skin slid against skin, as hands found new purchase and their kisses descended downwards.
It was only the second time they’d done this and they were still new to it, excited by every new touch. Draco was trying to keep his voice low and had to keep biting his cheek while Harry buried any of his own sound against Draco’s skin. He still couldn’t comprehend how it felt to have someone this close to him, to feel as if he would lose something when they parted. He thought it would be terrifying and sometimes, when he thought about it too much, it was. But more than that he felt safe.
He guided Harry’s hand down from where it had been squeezing his hip, pressing it down between their bodies and signaling him with an open-mouthed kiss to Harry’s neck. Harry swallowed in surprise but his hesitation didn’t last.
“You sure?” Harry whispered.
“Oh, definitely,” Draco replied, kissing him again but this time on the lips. He didn’t even pause before he shoved his tongue into Harry’s mouth and held his head firmly between both his hands.
Harry groaned into his mouth and returned the kiss greedily. The fire between them was heating into a blaze and Draco knew that if they didn’t do something about it immediately they would lose control. He hitched one of his legs up around Harry’s waist and pressed himself up, into Harry’s body. He felt a shiver run down through Draco's body and a hand squeezing his ass, Draco let his head fall back onto the pillow as Harry's hand found the spot Draco wanted it to.
From there they were lost in a haze, every word from Draco's had been reduced to things like yes and right there. At one point Draco apparently felt a very strong desire to move so he grabbed at Harry’s hips and tipped him sideways before moving himself so he was on top. Looking down at Harry, letting his hands scrape across his chest, the feel of Harry’s nails digging into his hips. It was all too much.
***
Draco felt the last spasm of excitement ebb from his body as he tipped forward to lay on top of Harry. Harry’s arms came up around him and held him tight, kissing anywhere he could reach. Draco didn’t know how long they lay there, each breath getting steadier, but when he felt his head clear a little he folded his arms on Harry’s chest and propped his head up to look at him.
Harry didn’t look like was coming down anytime soon and Draco smirked at his efforts. He’d have to remember just how much Harry liked it when he spoke French and he might have to invest in some more jeans. Harry was just staring at the ceiling, his eyes half closed and his chest still rising too quickly, and yet he looked peaceful. Draco watched him quietly for a while even after Harry started to drift into sleep, he moved his hand and traced a finger over his cheek.
He was too young, was all Draco could think. In sleep all of the worry and burdens that he held disappeared and all that was left was an almost seventeen-year-old that hadn’t been loved enough. Draco’s parents had their issues, more than Draco could count, but he had never doubted that they loved him. His mother had shown it in everything she had ever done for him and his father, well, he was beginning to understand that his father loved him the best he was able. But Harry? His parents murdered before he could even know them. A godfather locked away and unreachable for more than a decade. Left with muggles who would have treated a dog better than they had their own nephew.
Harry rarely spoke about the Dursley’s but when he did it was with off-hand, horrible comments. How his Hogwarts uniform had been the first piece of clothing that had fit him. How he only got his own room after his Hogwarts letter (he never mentioned where he had slept before that and Draco wasn’t sure his temper could take the answer). How he always looked so skinny whenever he returned to school like he hadn’t had a proper meal in months.
Draco ran his finger over Harry’s nose and knew that their time together was short. Harry was seventeen tomorrow which meant he could officially use magic outside of school and the wedding was the day after. Harry would leave, he knew he would. His devotion to Dumbledore wouldn’t let him stay any longer no matter who he was leaving behind. He would take Ron and Hermione and disappear, leaving Draco to wait and worry.
He shook his head. No, if Harry was going out there to find Horcuxes and to fight whatever came his way then Draco would do the same. His first responsibility was to his sister, to keeping her safe, but no one said that was all he had to do. He moved himself so he wasn’t crushing Harry’s body with his own and curled up into his side, resting his head on Harry’s chest. He pulled the blanket up over them and lay there, not sleeping but thinking. Plotting.
***
A harsh knock on the door startled Harry awake, the afternoon sunlight had dimmed and the room had darkened around them. He sat up quickly and heard someone grumble beside him. Draco was still there, hair mussed and half asleep, but awake enough to be annoyed.
The knocks came again and this time they were accompanied by a voice.
“Wake up,” Ginny hissed through the wood, “it's almost dinner and mum’s looking for you”.
Draco sat up next to Harry, looking panicked, but his bedhead was so wild it distracted Harry enough to laugh. Draco glared at him and ran a hand through it to try and flatten it.
“I really hope you’re decent because I’m going to open the door in 5-“ Ginny said.
Harry scrambled, launching himself off the bed towards their discarded clothing. He threw shirts and underwear in every direction only some of them landing on Draco while he hopped around trying to pull Draco’s pants up over his legs.
“-2… 1,” Ginny said.
The door opened tentatively and her red head popped through, her eyes covered up by her hand.
“Sorry but I don’t want to be shouting this on the first floor, Mum and Dad have excellent hearing,” she said, her eyes still covered. “Ron and Hermione are upstairs in Ron’s room, they escaped like half an hour ago, so if you don’t want Mum to know what you were really up to, she best find you plotting something else”.
“Right, good idea, Ginny,” Harry said, “how much time do we have?”
“None, you need to get your asses upstairs as soon as possible,” Ginny warned. “I can hold her off for maybe a minute but she’s on a warpath”.
Harry turned to Draco who was still sitting up in bed although he had managed to put a shirt on.
“You heard her,” Harry said, throwing a pair of pants at Draco’s head. “Hurry up”.
“How about you just go first?” Draco said and then smirked, “although you might want to put your shirt on the right way”.
Ginny giggled and made a gap between her fingers to peek at them, laughing a little harder at the state of them. She then turned and closed the door with a snap, Harry could hear her footsteps as she ran back down the stairs.
Harry shucked his shirt off and turned it around before he looked down and realised he was in Draco jeans and they definitely did not fit him. Draco raised an eyebrow and threw his own pants back to him. It took him another minute before he was dressed and Draco had deemed him respectable enough to leave the room.
“I’ll be up in a minute, if she finds me here alone I’ll just pretend I snuck away for a nap,” Draco said, he was sitting on the side of his bed, his legs still bare. Harry swallowed, if only he could go and climb back in.
“Get out of here, Potter,” Draco said with a knowing smile, “unless you want Mrs Weasley seeing something she definitely doesn’t want to”.
That image had Harry opening the door and escaping upstairs, he could hear Mrs Weasley now and actually, he could hear Ella as well. She was crying up a storm from the loungeroom and was surprised they hadn’t heard her. Although, it wouldn’t surprise him if Percy had cast some silencing charms around his room in order to study. Draco would be out in a minute to get her so Harry just ran to Ron’s room and snuck inside. He closed the door as quietly as possible and turned to see Ron and Hermione staring at him, looking unimpressed.
“Cutting it close, mate,” Ron said, managing to keep his disdain to a minimum.
“We really should have been planning, you know,” Hermione said, “it was lucky we even got the half hour we did”.
“Half an hour?” Harry asked, he was fairly certain he and Draco had been gone longer than that.
“We had to help Mum string up lights for an hour before that,” Ron grumbled, “you’re welcome”.
“Quickly, come sit down,” Hermione urged, “Mrs Weasley will probably find us soon and we want to get your input on this”.
Harry sat down on the floor, resting his back against the end of Ron’s bed. There were books all over the floor, dark arts and history books plus books on artifacts and curses.
“Where did you get all of these?” Harry asked, picking up a book that looked like it had dried blood on the cover.
“Restricted section,” Hermione said, matter-of-factly. “I stole them after Dumbledore’s funeral”.
“Really?” Harry asked, eyes wide.
“Really,” Ron confirmed, “I was lookout”.
“Where was I-“ Harry began and then turned bright red, “never mind”.
And then the door opened with a smack and Mrs Weasley was standing there, Ella was still crying in her arms and struggling to get down. When she saw Harry, obviously recognising him, she struggled even more until Mrs. Weasley sighed and put her on the ground.
“What are you three up to?” she demanded, “I’ve been looking all over! I can’t understand a word Mr and Mrs Delacour are saying and guests are starting to arrive for dinner! And here you three are hiding away-“
Her eyes landed on the books on the floor just as Hermione scooped them all up and shoved them away. They couldn’t have looked more guilty if they’d tried.
“Downstairs, all of you!” she said, anger steaming her words.
Ella added to the noise, her crying had calmed down some as she toddled over to Harry but she was obviously upset. Harry shuffled forward and grabbed her up, holding her close to him and patting her back. Apparently, she hadn’t liked being in a house full of strangers all that much.
“Sorry, Ella,” Harry whispered.
“Where’s Draco?” Mrs Weasley asked, looking to Harry suspiciously, as if he might have hid his boyfriend under the bed.
“He’s, uh, he’s-“ Harry said.
“Apologies, Mrs Weasley,” Draco said from behind her, he scratched his head, looking very guilty. “Ella was looked after and I saw the opportunity- and well, I was so tired. It’s not been an easy summer”.
“You were asleep?” Mrs Weasley asked, eyes narrowed in disbelief.
“Yeah,” Draco said, softly. “I haven’t been sleeping well… Ella is teething and waking me up every few hours plus all of the news… sorry”.
“That’s alright, dear,” she said, instantly softening. “I’m sure the last year has been very hard on you”.
“It hasn’t been the easiest,” Draco replied, amping up the tone of anguish in his voice. Harry saw Ron rolling his eyes in his periphery while Hermione had managed to make all of her illegal books disappear.
“Come down to dinner then,” she said, “and you can head up to bed early tonight if you like”.
“That’s OK,” Draco said, “I thought I’d talk with Mr and Mrs Delacour a little more”.
“That would be lovely, dear,” Mrs Weasley said, she threw one more look at the three of them before leaving the room.
Draco smirked, “I think your mum likes me more than you”.
“Fuck off,” Ron said, throwing a rude gesture at him.
Draco walked over to Harry and took Ella off him. The moment Draco had started talking Ella had begun fussing, she had turned away from Harry and was trying to desperately get to her brother. Only when Draco was right there did Harry let her go and she wrapped her little arms around his neck and buried her head in his shoulder.
“Come on then, miss, I bet you’re hungry,” Draco said, bouncing her and tapping her on the nose.
He left the room, throwing a wink at Harry that left him flushed once more.
"Oh, for Merlin's sake," Hermione sighed, "boys are impossible".
She stood up and walked out after Draco leaving Harry and Ron no choice but to follow her down.